ee 
426 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 
The nasal groove is very broad and shallow, obtuse anteriorly, and not extend- 
ing beyond the middle of the bill; the lower edge of upper jaw ascends slightly 
from the middle to near the tip. 
STREPSILAS INTERPRES. — Jiliger. 
The Turnstone. 
Tringa interpres, Linneus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 248. Wils. Am. Orn., VII. 
(1813) 32. 
Strepsilas interpres, Illiger. Prod. (1811), 263. Nutt., II. 80. Aud. Orn. Biog., 
IV. (1838) 31. b., Birds Am., V. (1842) 231. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Upper parts rather irregularly variegated with black, dark-rufous, and white; 
head and neck above generally white, with numerous spots and stripes of brownish- 
black on the crown and occiput; space in front of the eye white, usually surrounded 
with black; throat white, on each side of which is a stripe of black running from 
the base of the bill downwards and joining a large space of the same color (black) 
on the neck before and breast; abdomen, under wing coverts, under tail coverts, 
back, and rump, white; quills brownish-black, with their shafts white; tail white at 
base, with its terminal half brownish-black, and tipped with white; greater wing 
coverts widely tipped with white, forming a conspicuous oblique bar across the 
wing; bill black; legs orange; in winter, the black of the upper parts is more 
apparent, and the rufous is of less extent and of lighter shade; iris hazel. 
Total length, about nine inches; wing, six; tail, two and a half inches. 
Hab. — Shores of the Atlantic and Pacific, throughout North America. One of 
the most widely diffused of birds, being found in nearly all parts of the world. 
It is only on the seacoast, and in very small numbers 
even, that this bird is found in New England as a spring 
and summer visitor. It occasionally is found in company 
with some of the Sandpipers and other beach-birds; but 
usually appears alone, or in parties of two or three, on the 
beach, or on the shores of sandy rivers that empty into 
the ocean, near their outlets. It is almost always actively 
employed in turning over the pebbles and small stones with 
its strong, sharp bill, beneath which it finds small marine 
animals and eggs, on which it principally feeds. It also 
eats greedily, according to Wilson, on the eggs of the 
Horse-shoe, or King Crab, and small shell-fish, and occa- 
sionally wades into the water for a shrimp or other small 
animal that is left in a shallow pool by the retiring waves. 
It breeds on the most northern sections of the continent, 
